The overall objective is to develop a multidisciplinary program for research and education in bioinformatics and biomolecular computing. Bioinformatics and biomedical computing have been identified as critical areas for development within Georgia State University. The planning grant will provide the focus to integrate the efforts of individual scientists from the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, and Computer Science. This cross-fertilization will result in fundamental discoveries and the development of important new tools for biomedical computing, as well as facilitate the interdisciplinary training necessary for scientists at all levels. The planned goals are: 1. To develop an organizational structure that will stimulate and facilitate multidisciplinary research in the basic science of bioinformatics and new biomedical applications. 2. To select and monitor interdisciplinary developmental research projects and to disseminate the results of these projects. 3. To develop a range of educational activities including formal programs, courses, and a seminar series. 4. To provide the core resources of new equipment and technology that will support the Developmental Projects and educational activities. The Developmental Projects will include research in the areas of biomolecular modeling tools for design of diagnostic and therapeutic agents, confocal image analysis for the neural basis for behavior, and data integration and pattern retrieval for toxicology and infectious viruses. [unreadable] [unreadable]